


Vulnerable

by Ellenar_Ride



Series: Mending Links [15]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Mending Links 'Verse, Red is a deliberate softy, and also very observant, and introspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:13:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24509710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellenar_Ride/pseuds/Ellenar_Ride
Summary: Red, in turn, keeps the Quartet safe from themselves. Guards them from indifference, from callousness, from bitterness. Tempers their ferocity with gentleness, their protective rage with discernible kindness. Keeps their hearts warm and pliant and motivated with love. Squashes the seeds of resentment and mistrust as they begin to take root by pointing out the good in the world, the beauty they are preserving and the happiness they are protecting.(Prompt: Heart on Sleeve)
Series: Mending Links [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1545610
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	Vulnerable

Every member of the Quartet is the odd one out in their own way, Red knows. Everyone is different, everyone is unique. That honestly doesn’t bother him; it’s just a fact of life. Even if his brothers haven’t internalized it, Red has. It’s one of the ways he’s different from his brothers. Another way Red is different is his skin. Metaphorically, that is—Red is incredibly thin-skinned, compared to his relatively unflappable brothers. (Okay, so maybe they’re not _all_ that thick-skinned, but they’re still less sensitive than Red.) One way Red _is_ like his brothers, and especially like Blue, is that this is a very intentional choice.

Red is emotional and easily-bruised, and no matter how many times he gets knocked down he just keeps pasting on a genuine, heartfelt smile. He is the metaphorical heart of the Quartet, worn on their collective sleeve, and he takes a bone-deep beating every time they knock against some sturdy wall or sharp corner. Nothing will ever change this truth; Red will not permit it.

His brothers know he’s more vulnerable than they are. They know he’s more emotional, more prone to heartache. What they don’t realize is, it’s an intentional choice; as cultivated a characteristic as Blue’s anger or Green’s decisiveness or Vio’s curiosity. Oh, they think they’re all secretive about their decisions, but you can’t hide your vulnerabilities from the most vulnerable person in the group. Red makes a conscious choice to keep his sensitive points exposed, so he has an easier time spotting the reinforced armor guarding those deep wounds in his brothers’ souls.

The other three cannot fathom even the idea of a person deliberately leaving themselves open to injury and abuse, much less imagine a potential motive for doing so. But in Red’s eyes, all of the pain his kindness causes him is, while not insignificant, _absolutely_ worth the benefits it gives him. Right now, as long as he keeps his heart open, he can wake up his brothers’ hearts as well. As matters stand, Red can stir them to joy or grief, to laughter or tears. Can remind them that there’s more to life, more to _them,_ than just slaying monsters. If he lets his wounds scar, if he lets pain and hurt harden his heart, if he lets his softness develop callouses, he will lose the very openness that allows him to guide his brothers back to life when they are lost in the all-consuming haze of duty and survival.

Green keeps the Quartet safe from loss, from aimlessness, from _uselessness,_ by leading them well and deciding on new goals as soon as they complete an old one. Vio keeps the Quartet safe from monsters, from injury and fear, by wielding his bow—and his sword, when needed—with an almost frightening efficiency (despite being primarily a distance fighter, Vio is the Quartet’s best and most ruthless combatant). Blue keeps the Quartet safe from _people,_ both those monsters who wear the skin of a Hylian and those people who are simply thoughtless and self-focused, by bringing his potent anger and indignation to bear against them, shaming or scaring the would-be threat into seeing the better part of valor.

Red, in turn, keeps the Quartet safe from themselves. Guards them from indifference, from callousness, from bitterness. Tempers their ferocity with gentleness, their rage with kindness. Keeps their hearts warm and pliant and motivated with love. Squashes the seeds of resentment and mistrust as they begin to take root by pointing out the good in the world, the beauty they are preserving and the happiness they are protecting. When his brothers are angry, Red makes up a new game and pouts until they agree to play, prods them to remember the rules and doesn't let up on insisting they play _just one more round_ until everyone is laughing.

Red loves his brothers beyond reason or restriction, and here at the Homestead he has found so many more siblings to love. Red is mature enough to admit that, at first, his affection was rather shallow: he loved Sav for his reassuring words, Myth for the breadth and depth of his practical knowledge, Sand for his gentle hands. But in time it has deepened to a fuller, more genuine love. He knows his siblings now, has learned details of their pasts he can never forget that forever tint his view of them.

For example: thanks to some quirk of magic on his quest, Wash considers himself less than a person; Major is a cuddlebug, craving physical affection after a touch-starved childhood in a community that considered him diseased and would not approach him (Red, a cuddlebug himself, is more than happy to indulge this desperate desire); Tribal has a daughter (a child! the idea is near-unthinkable in its intensity) whom she misses with a palpable ache; Tracks cannot think without some odds-and-ends scrap of metal to twist in his hands; Myth dyes his hair to help his tired mind keep track of when he is and what is real, even in the depths of trauma-fueled flashback.

Red is soft. Kind. Gentle. Loving. Forgiving. _Vulnerable._ He is open and exposed in the face of agony. He rolls with the punches life throws his way, but he doesn’t hesitate to prod the bruises until he feels them at their fullest. He refuses to let the world poison him with wariness, refuses to acclimate to hate. He weathers every storm life has to offer, suffers every indignity with grace, and he looks the universe in the eye with a bloody smile and says, _is that it?_

It’s not enough to change him. Red won’t _let_ it be enough to change him. He digs in his heels and stands tall, facing the suffering that lies in wait for him, and he says, _not today, thank you._ As much as he knows it will hurt, he refuses to run away. 

All of this betrays a single underlying truth: Red would rather be vulnerable than heartless.

**Author's Note:**

> And we reach the end of the mini-arc of the Quartet. It took _so long_ to write this piece, Red just did not want to share his observations. I do like how it turned out, though :)
> 
> For anyone who's interested, I put a poll on [my FF.net profile](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/3047832/Ellenar-Ride) re: which Zelda story people are most interested in (trust me, I have _many_ ). I'm still going to continue _Meeting the Broken Links_ and _Saga of the Goddesses_ , and when I'm done with the former I'll get back to work on _Homesteading_ , but I was curious which story y'all would be most interested in seeing _as well_. There are sixteen stories listed, but the only information provided is a title and which meta-series it belongs to (Mending Links, External Links, Forging Links, etc.). The series themselves are detailed on my FF profile. I'd love to hear what you guys think!
> 
> Edit: I just remembered you actually have to have an account on FF to vote in their polls :| not sure where else I could put a poll, so feel free to just drop a comment here with the title(s) if you want to vote but don't have an FF account. Sorry for any inconvenience :/


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